Saturday, February 21, 2009

The mystery of the pants

Last night when we got home there were two pair of pants sitting by our front door. They are too small for Logan, but Noah will grow into them quicker than I want him to - so I put them on the shelf with the other "attic bound" clothes. No note, no phone call, no ideas.....but this is all a part of living in a small town.

I live in a community of about 3,000 people, I have family in this town, friends that I've known my whole life, and acquaintances that I know more about than I care to. And finding gifts on your front porch is something that is not uncommon here - you find clothes like I did last night, one time I found a big garbage bag of Barney VHS tapes because someone knew that Noah loved Barney and their child must have grown out of them, you will find tomatoes, corn, beans, etc. when gardens are overflowing with veggies, people look out for your kids, your pets, your house when you are out of town, and there is a real sense of community here.

I cannot imagine living in a city where I don't know my neighbors, everyone feels like a stranger, and the buildings around you seem bigger than the sky. Where I live there are corn fields, soccer/football/baseball fields, I can see my work from my kitchen window and it's a little over 10 miles away....my building is reaallly big!, the tallest thing in my town is a grain bin in the middle of town and you hardly recognize it's there until it's harvest time and you can hear it running all hours of the day. I think it's so funny to try and give my friends directions in this town....the friends that have only lived here for two years or so, I say things like "Do you know where the old grade school was" or "Take a left at the corner by Smith's old house" - they have no idea what or who I'm talking about! ha!

We don't have a Starbucks on every corner, there are more taverns than I care to admit, there is one stop light, and the one thing that would make this town perfect is if someone would open up a hardware store again because it's inconvenient to go "to town" just to buy nails. What this town has to offer isn't convenience, it's community - and that's what I love the most. Now, I won't break into John Cougar Mellencamp's "Small Town" or anything, but the lyrics are very fitting for how I feel about my town.

And just think - two pair of mysterious pants made me think about all of this! ha! Have a great weekend!

Angela

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